The Maltese Falcon
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4.4 • 72 Ratings
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
The definitive masterpiece of the hard-boiled detective genre, The Maltese Falcon first appeared in the pages of Black Mask magazine in 1929 and was almost immediately acknowledged as not only a great crime novel but an enduring masterpiece of American fiction.
Tough, cynical PI Sam Spade--a man who, as his creator explained, is "able to take care of himself in any situation, able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with"--is hired by the story's irresistible femme fatale, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, to locate the client's sister by tailing her companion. Spade's partner, Miles Archer, takes on the assignment, and quickly both he and the man he was shadowing are murdered. As Spade pursues the mystery of his partner's death, he is drawn into a circle of colorful characters--all of them after a legendary statuette of a falcon fashioned long ago for King Charles of Spain.
Made of gold and encrusted with jewels, the falcon is worth a fortune. Missing for centuries, it resurfaced in Paris in 1911, covered in black enamel to disguise its value, and then disappeared again until it was traced to Constantinople--and now, it would seem, to Spade's own backyard.
Customer Reviews
Noir at its best
It’s a classic for a reason! Such a fun read and descriptive language. Time travel back to the era and enjoy a story about treasure ,deception and leveraging power. I definitely would recommend. For fans of the film, its very close to the classic with Humphrey Bogart
Hard to follow at first- got better as story moved on.
This was not one of my favorite stories, especially in the beginning, but I am glad I followed through and decided to finish it.
Malt-tease
Samuel Spade is a decisive man. Hammett stays out of the characters’ thoughts, so the reader has to figure out what’s going on from dialogue and actions. Unforgettable characters.